"Economic Policy Review" Bulletin ISSN 1313 - 0544

The Ministry of Finance published the data about the execution of the consolidated budget for the first half of 2008. The revenues are over 14 billion levs, while the expenses are 9.89 billion levs, which means that the surplus is over 3.78 billion levs or over 5.5% of the expected GDP for the year.

The milk producers protests and the decision which the Government is about to make for providing additional funds from the budget for subsidies, show again that an organized group of people could be very strong on the political scene, even if their demands are against the interest of the net taxpayers in the country...

During the recent months and years, almost repiodically, the role, significance and expectations from the State administration are a toppic for discussion in the public space. It plays an exceedingly important role for the development of the economy since on its adecvate positioning, effectiveness and quality of services depends the development of the business environment, which determinece the competitiveness of the entire economy...

At the beginning of this week the mass-media headlines said that on the street of all Bulgarian cities a polluted ice-cream is being sold. The Consumer Protection Federation alarmed the “customers” by its chief secretary Mr. Peter Karlev. He emphasized several facts:

Usually, if a producer operates at a loss for three – four months he simply goes bankrupt and is out of the business. However, the situation is different if this producer has been promised a subsidy regardless of being successful or not. This situation seems absurd. The agricultural producers and processors in Bulgaria and generally in the EU would say differently, since they are the main participants in the Common Agricultural Policy pf the EU and as they profit from it, in recent times, it seams that they are losing more.

Both with respect to central economic planning and price control, as its very important part, there was never proofs that they were useful and not destructive for the largest part of the population, it is also a fact that the small part of those who benefit from such measures have always been its big supporters. Although there are no proofs in support of limiting the free price formation and although there are a number of examples in the history of the very undesirable consequences from the introduction of such measures, to a lesser or larger degree they are applied even today, and unfortunately their use is extending.

Ludwig von Mieses died at the age of 92, Friedrich Hayek at almost 93, while Milton Freidman at 94. The three great economists, very knowledgeable in economic theory, leaders of the ideas about market order, had long and fruitful lives...